Networks of powers, networks of capital and economic growth: querying the history of Southern Italy from a global perspective (1850-1919). A new interdisciplinary approach.

In the light of the recent financial crisis, the doubts on the efficacy of the openness of the capital markets have intensified the debate on the connection between financial integration and growth. Literature seems to suggest a difficulty in detecting univocity in the connection in a positive sense. In line with the neoclassical tradition, many have shown a positive impact of financial integration on growth, especially for developing countries. These results are offset by the arguments of those who show that financial integration does not increase wealth in the presence of distortions such as weak institutions and informational asymmetries that affect the working of the international capital market. More recently, the contrasting conclusions of the literature have led to empirical analyses that, by looking at the economic history, tested the validity of the results on long-term comparisons. Qualitative analyses, that consider social, institutional and cultural factors, seem more effective in accounting for the processes of convergence/lack of convergence of some peripheral systems on levels of the core area. Such analyses aim to underline the role of international capital in the growth of the peripheral economies until 1914, when the entrance of foreign capital in local markets, by activating the forces of competition by means of larger investment opportunities, had the advantage of lowering the cost of capital for the existing businesses, thereby fostering growth. The project proposes a new interdisciplinary approach, supported by an original qualitative/quantitative relational database (IFESMez - acronym of “Imprese, Finanza, Economia e Società /Enterprises, Finance, Economy and Society” in the Mezzogiorno), in order to ascertain to what extent these forces of competition actually exerted a role in the growth process of Southern Italy within the scope of the first wave of financial integration (1850-1914).